MROSD purchases Miramontes Ridge property

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) voted to buy the 676-acre Miramontes Ridge property from Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) as an addition to the District’s Mills Creek Open Space Preserve. Miramontes Ridge is located in the foothills west of Skyline Boulevard and north of Burleigh Murray State Park.

"Miramontes Ridge is important because the property’s roads and trails may provide future opportunities to establish a regional trail connection between the Bay Area Ridge Trail and the Coastal Trail," said Craig Britton, the District’s General Manager in the District’s press release.

Click "read more" to see the press release.

DISTRICT PURCHASES SCENIC MIRAMONTES RIDGE PROPERTY ON COASTSIDE

LOS ALTOS, CA [June 30, 2005] - At a public meeting in Half Moon Bay, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s Board of Directors last night voted to purchase the 676-acre Miramontes Ridge property as an addition to the District’s Mills Creek Open Space Preserve.  The property, purchased from Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), is located partly within the Coastside Protection Area, which was integrated into the District boundaries in 2004 and includes lands from south of the City of Pacifica to the Santa Cruz County line.  The District’s Coastside Protection Program is designed to preserve open space and agricultural land on the San Mateo coast.

"Miramontes Ridge is important because the property’s roads and trails may provide future opportunities to establish a regional trail connection between the Bay Area Ridge Trail and the Coastal Trail," said Craig Britton, the District’s General Manager.

Miramontes Ridge is located in the foothills west of Skyline Boulevard and north of Burleigh Murray State Park.  The property would become an integral part of the area’s open space system by providing a natural extension to the prominent ridgelines that frame Mills Creek Preserve and the views from the City of Half Moon Bay.  The property’s purchase would also better allow the District to protect the endangered steelhead trout found upstream in Mills Creek. In the near-term, public access may occur in the form of organized docent-led hikes.

On June 14, 2005, the District held a public meeting on the property in order to acquaint neighbors and interested parties with the land.  POST is selling the property to the District at a matching land gift bargain sale price of $2,050,000; the District will use a $2,050,000 California Coastal Conservancy grant to purchase the property.

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Created by voters more than 30 years ago, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District has successfully protected and managed nearly 50,000 acres of open space. The public enjoys the District’s diverse and beautiful preserves 365 days a year. The District is an independent, non-enterprise, California special district whose mission is to acquire and preserve a regional greenbelt of open space land in perpetuity, protect and restore the natural environment, and provide opportunities for ecologically sensitive public enjoyment and education. www.openspace.org

Rudy Jurgensen
Public Affairs Manager
Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
330 Distel Circle
Los Altos, CA 94022
Ph: 650-691-1200
Fax: 650-691-0485